A noted AIDS researcher has hinted that Pope John Paul II might have benefited from his prescription for an antidote to Parkinson's disease.

Dr Luc Montagnier told the Paris daily Le Monde that during a June meeting with the Holy Father, he suggested a fermented-papaya extract as a means of easing the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. Montagnier says that the extract stimulates the immune system.

The Vatican has not confirmed that the Pope took Montagnier's suggestion. In fact, the Vatican has never formally confirmed that the Pope suffers from Parkinson's disease, although the symptoms of that ailment have been obvious to observers for several years.

However, most observers have noticed that the Pope's symptoms-- slurred speech, a trembling left hand, and difficulty in movement-- have appeared less severe in recent weeks. During his August trip to Poland, the Pope was able to deliver his own speeches, rather than having an assistant read his text, as he had done routinely for several months.

Dr Montagnier had sought the June meeting with the Holy Father in an effort to convince him that the Church should accept the distribution and use of condoms as a means of stopping the spread of AIDS. Montagnier is credited with having identified the HIV virus that is generally believed to cause AIDS.